Improvement in opera-chairs



P. W. NOLAN. Opera-Chair.

No. 196,036. Patented Oct. 9, 1877.

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N. PETERS. FHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER WASNINGYON, n C

UNITED STATES ATENT Grrron.

PATRICK W. NOLAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HERBERT F. PALMER, OFSAME PLACE.

I'M PROVEMENT IN OPERA-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,036, dated October9, 1877; application filed April 18, 1877.

To all whom it mayconcern Be it known that I, PATRICK W. NOLAN, of thecity, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Opera-Chairs, which improvement is fully set forth in thefollowing specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which-- 7 Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation ofa chair containing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof. Fig.3 is a side elevation of the same when folded. Fig. 4 is a side viewthereof when the lower part of the back is moved to its rear position.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

My improvement has reference to that class of chairs which are designedfor use in operahouses and other like places; and it consists in aswinging back, in combination with springs or equivalent devices, soarranged that the back will yield and swing outward away from the seatwhen pressed against below its horizontal supports, so that a personoccupying the chair is enabled to throw his or her body backward when itis desirable-as, for instance, when a person passes through the row towhich the chair may belong in a theater or other place, while, after thebody of the person is again moved to a forward position, the chairbackresumes its normal position; also, in combining with the swinging backand the aforesaid springs a swinging seat and also cams, which areaffixed to two opposite edges of said seat, and the faces of which bearagainst pins projecting from two opposite edges of the swinging back insuch a manner that when the chair is folded up said cams automaticallymove the chair back from an inclined to a perpendicular position, ornearly so, so that the chair occupies the least possible space whenfolded; further, in combining with the swinging seat and back, and withthe\cams for actuating said back, folding arms and supplemental cams,which latter are formed in one piece with the said cams for actuatingthe swinging back, and which serve to elevate the chair-arms when thechair is unfolded, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawing, the letter A designates the frame of my chair. B is theback. 0 is the seat, and D are its arms. The backB is hung near itsmiddle part on pivots a in the frame A, in the usual manner. To twoopposite edges, and below the pivots a, of said back B, are connectedsprings I one of the ends of such springs being attached to pins 0,projecting from said two edges of the back B, while the other or frontend of said springs is attached to the chairseat 0. If desired, however,the front ends of the springs b can be attached to the frame A, insteadof to the seat G, without changingthe effect of the springs. Saidsprings b have a tendency to draw the lower part of the chair-back Bforward, or in the direction of the seat 0, and at the same time allowof pushing back said lower part of the back B to the position shown inFig. 4 at all times. The rear edge of the seat 0 forms a stop to arrestthe lower end of the back B, or, in other words, to determine theposition of said back; and the back B is so arranged that it is inclinedwhen in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1. The seat 0 is hung, ator near its rear end, on pivots d in the frame A, in the usual manner,so that it can be folded up against the back B. To two opposite edges ofthe seat 0 are fastened cams E, the faces of which bear against the pins0 of the chair-back B when the seat 0 is folded up against said back,and these cams are so shaped that by their means said back is swunground on the pivots a from its normal or inclined position to aperpendicular, or nearly perpendicular, position, and against the actionof the springs b, as shown in Fig. 3, when the chair is folded up. Saidcams E are, moreover, so shaped that when the seat G is in its highestposition they catch over the pins 0, (see Fig. 2,) and by this means theseat and back of the chair are held together. The chair-arms D are hungat their rear ends on pivots e in the frame A, in the usual manner, andthey rest on supplemental cams F, which are formed in one piece with thecams E, and which, together with said cams E, are fastened to twoopposite edges of the seat 0. Now, the supplemental cams F, as well asthe cams E, partake of the movement of the seat U, and said supplementalcams are so shaped that when the seat 0 is unfolded the chair-arms l)are elevated by their means,

so as to adapt them for use, as shown in Fig. 1, and vice versa.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an opera or other chair, the swinging back B, in combination withsprings I), or equivalent devices, so arranged that the back will yieldand swing outward away from the seat of the chair when pressed againstbelow the horizontal supports of the back, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a chair, of a swinging back, B, a swinging seat,C, and springs 1), arranged so as to draw the lower part of the back inthe direction of said seat, and allow of a rearward movement of saidlower part of the back when desirable, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the swinging back B, the springs b, and withthe swinging seat (J, of cams E, which are affixed to the seat, andarranged to act on the swinging back and push its lower part outwardagainst the action of said springs to a perpendicular position, ornearly so, when the chair is folded up, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the cams E, of supplemental cams F, formed inone piece with said cams E, substantially as described, and for theobject specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand andseal this 12th day of April, 1877.

PATRICK W. NOLAN. [L. s.] I

Witnesses J. VAN SANTVOORD, E. F. KASTENHUBER.

